Ferrari and Bridgestone could not have written a better script for the Japanese GP… With all the fears of a wet race blowing away their chances, come qualification Bridgestone proved that they know better than anyone else how to win at home. With the first 2 rows locked with Bridgestone runners and Toyota and Williams out performing Mc Laren, the race looks glum for the Michelin runners already.
Massa took pole in a warm saturday afternoon followed very closely by his team mate and World Championship contender Micheal Schumacher. Toyotas impressed in all parts of qualification and out paced the Renaults en route to row 2. Ralf will start on 3rd and Trulli on 4th.
Among the battle of the Michelin runners Renault were the class of the field. Alonso leading Fisichella into the third row. The Hondas were the other Michelin runners to give a little fight to their Bridgestone counterparts locking row 4.
This qualification session looks exactly the opposite of the Chinese GP where Michelin had a huge advantage. Renault will hope the result ends in their favour like it had done so a week ago in favour Ferrari. Another concern could be the rain… Bridgestone have a new wet weather tyre for the race and say they are so confident about it that they were hoping for a wet weekend! Advantage wrt wet conditions was never clear as only the first and (part of)second practice was in the wet and not many top runners set the times during this period. Michelin would none the less be doing a rain dance in the pits all day tmrw.
You can keep an eye on the weather here: http://weathernews.jp/livecam/cgi/livecam_disp.cgi?liveid=410001428
Predictions:
Dry Race:
1) Michael Schumacher
2) Massa
3) Fernando Alonso
I expect Ferraris to be untouchable in a dry race at Japan… If the Renaults manage to beat the Toyotas it will be a huge thing and Alonso is the man for the job.
Wet Race:
1) Fernado Alonso
2) Fisichella
3) Micheal Schumacher / Jenson Button
It will be hard for anyone to beat Alonso in the wet, twice already he has proved to be the most dominant racer in the wet this season and I dont see anyone challenging that even if Bridgestone performs well in the wet. Fisi and Jenson will depend heavily on Michelin outperforming Bridgestone in the wet to jump the Ferrari’s in the lead.
Again we have a weekend which is unpredictable… and that means we get to watch some cool racing.